'''Alarak''' is a commander in [[Co-op Missions]] introduced in Patch 3.6. Alarak personally takes the field as a hero unit similar to [[Kerrigan (Co-op Missions)|Kerrigan]] and [[Zagara (Co-op Missions)|Zagara]]. In addition, he has the ability to field powerful [[Tal'darim]] units, and call down the [[Death Fleet]] to annihilate his foes.<ref name="AlarakComm">2016-08-16. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qft2Jwg6GIs&ab_channel=StarCraft New Co-op Commander Preview: Alarak ]. ''StarCraft II.'' Accessed 2016-08-16.</ref>

'''Alarak''' is a commander in [[Co-op Missions]] introduced in Patch 3.6. Alarak personally takes the field as a hero unit similar to [[Kerrigan (Co-op Missions)|Kerrigan]] and [[Zagara (Co-op Missions)|Zagara]]. In addition, he has the ability to field powerful [[Tal'darim]] units, and call down the [[Death Fleet]] to annihilate his foes.<ref name="AlarakComm">2016-08-16. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qft2Jwg6GIs&ab_channel=StarCraft New Co-op Commander Preview: Alarak ]. ''StarCraft II.'' Accessed 2016-08-16.</ref>

:* ''(Does not affect the initial cooldown at the start of the mission)''

:* ''(Does not affect the initial cooldown at the start of the mission)''

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As a hero unit, Alarak is fragile, but a powerful all-around attacker. His Deadly Charge and Destruction Wave abilities let him deal heavy damage, and does not need energy for them, letting him use them constantly without fear. With a healthy supply of supplicants to support him, Alarak is virtually invincible, automatically healing constantly as he fights. He can also use Destruction Wave to knock enemies into range of his army, disallowingthem an escape.

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As a hero unit, Alarak is fragile, but a powerful all-around attacker. His Deadly Charge and Destruction Wave abilities let him deal heavy damage, and does not need energy for them, letting him use them constantly without fear. With a healthy supply of supplicants to support him, Alarak is virtually invincible, automatically healing constantly as he fights. He can also use Destruction Wave to knock enemies into range of his army, bothpreventing an escape and putting the enemies in closer .

The utility of Alarak's Empower Me ability cannot be overstated. With enough allied units nearby, Alarak's attacking abilities can deal several hundred damage, letting him decimate waves upon waves of enemies with ease. There is no cap to how strong he can become as long as there are units near him, his power will continue to grow. However, due to its lengthy cooldown, Empower Me is best saved for heavy battles where Alarak will need the boost in offense.

The utility of Alarak's Empower Me ability cannot be overstated. With enough allied units nearby, Alarak's attacking abilities can deal several hundred damage, letting him decimate waves upon waves of enemies with ease. There is no cap to how strong he can become as long as there are units near him, his power will continue to grow. However, due to its lengthy cooldown, Empower Me is best saved for heavy battles where Alarak will need the boost in offense.

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Alarak's biggest weakness is that, by himself, he is not very effective; he can kill small groups of enemies alone, but requires a healthy supply of supplicants to keep alive. While his damaging abilities are spammable, they don't do much damage by themselves. Alarak is best used in tandem with a large army that can provide support fire and tributes to heal him, while Alarak himself charges into combat to draw fire and soften up enemies for his followers to finish off. Alone, he is easily overwhelmed and killed.

Alarak's biggest weakness is that, by himself, he is not very effective; he can kill small groups of enemies alone, but requires a healthy supply of supplicants to keep alive. While his damaging abilities are spammable, they don't do much damage by themselves. Alarak is best used in tandem with a large army that can provide support fire and tributes to heal him, while Alarak himself charges into combat to draw fire and soften up enemies for his followers to finish off. Alone, he is easily overwhelmed and killed.

:With full masteries, the Death Fleet cooldown get down to only 4 min, with good planning, you can use it pretty reliably to bust your forces while assaulting hard defend areas and take down objetives.

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:With full masteries, the Death Fleet cooldown get down to only 4 min, with good planning, you can use it pretty reliably to bust your forces while assaulting hard defend areas and take down objectives.

'''Power Set 3''': Structure Overcharge Shield and Attack Speed

'''Power Set 3''': Structure Overcharge Shield and Attack Speed

:☀Structure Overcharge shield and attack speed: +2% – +60%

:☀Structure Overcharge shield and attack speed: +2% – +60%

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Structure Overcharge is also very effective at clearing out the rocks blocking expansions. A single Structure Overcharge can destroy the main rock, and with full mastery, both of the vespene rocks. An really early expansion for Alarak is a good idea to build up a strong economy quickly, but this comes with the obvious drawback of putting off the player's other building options to focus on saving up for a new nexus and probes to mine. In this circumstance, good usage of Alarak in the early game is important as the player will not have much money to train or upgrade their army.

Structure Overcharge is also very effective at clearing out the rocks blocking expansions. A single Structure Overcharge can destroy the main rock, and with full mastery, both of the vespene rocks. An really early expansion for Alarak is a good idea to build up a strong economy quickly, but this comes with the obvious drawback of putting off the player's other building options to focus on saving up for a new nexus and probes to mine. In this circumstance, good usage of Alarak in the early game is important as the player will not have much money to train or upgrade their army.

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Try to use Structure Overcharge whenever you are nearing 3 charges, as they are limited by cooldown rather than resource cost and they contribute considerable damage; if the player is maxed out on charges, then the cooldown stops, preventing the player from getting additional charges. Ideally a player doesn't waste the sheer damage output one Structure Overcharge can potentially provide.

===My Life for the Highlord===

===My Life for the Highlord===

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Alarak himself is keytohisarmy'ssuccess,buthemustbeproperlysupportedbysupplicants.Whilesupplicantsareineffectiveontheirown,upgradedtheycanprovidesurprisinglyeffectivemeatshields-a fully upgraded supplicant has 125 shields with 5armor. Havocsupport boosts their range by 2, patchinguptheirrangeproblem.Theplayershouldalwayshaveahealthysupplyofsupplicantstodrawenemyfireandprovide Alarak sacrifices to healhim.The number of supplicants needed depends on how much the playeruses Alarak and his ascendants, as theywillquicklysacrificetheiralliestorestorethemselvesandevenseveraldozensupplicantscanquicklyfall,leavingAlarak'sstronger, more fragile units unguarded.

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Alarak himself is mostlyusefulintheearlygametodefendhiseconomyandcompleteobjectiveswhilehe'sstillgettinghiseconomygoingandgettingtheupgradesherequirestowinthegame. Lategame, thestrengthofhisarmywillgreatlyovertakeAlarak,butheisstillusefulwithhisEmpowerMeability,whichallows Alarak'spower to growproportionallyto the strengthof his army, as wellasactingasalighttankforhisarmyashehealshimselfcontinuallywhilehisenemiesdie.

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Supplicant management is important to consider if playing with an Ascendant build. If the player does not quickly kill the enemies attacking him and keeps letting them get free hits off, they run the risk of suffering heavy Supplicant losses as Alarak consumes them to keep himself alive. This is not ideal if Alarak is going for an Ascendant build, as he needs those Supplicants to give his Ascendants additional strength, and continuously losing Supplicants like this will quickly demolish Alarak's mineral reserves.

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If Alarak opts for a mechanical-based build, then the Supplicants can be better dedicated to keeping Alarak alive instead of saving them for Ascendants, but it is still important to avoid going into battle with no Supplicants. Supplicants are good at drawing enemy fire away from the more fragile Mechanical units, and they provide Alarak with sacrifices he can use to keep himself alive.

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It is also important to note that if Alarak runs out of Supplicants nearby to consume, he will instead consume a nearby army unit at random to keep himself alive. This can prove disastrous if he consumes an Ascendant with several Power Overwhelming stacks, as this is a huge time commitment that has been suddenly lost. It can be similarly disastrous if Alarak starts to consume large amounts of Slayers, or if he consumes a Wrathwalker or other expensive units. While in a fight with Alarak, it's important to watch the fight and see if it's going badly and Alarak's army is starting to die quickly. If Alarak is running low on Supplicants and rapidly devouring his supply of them, it is best to retreat and come back later with more Supplicants and firepower later on, to avoid Alarak wiping out his own army in an attempt to keep himself alive. If the player is trying to retreat, Alarak's Destruction Wave is quite useful to push enemies away and allow his army to make distance.

Keep an eye on supply when building supplicants, as each pair costs 4 supply, and unlike other protoss commanders, Alarak has no quick answer to getting supply blocked. Always be building pylons to support your growing army as resources allow.

Keep an eye on supply when building supplicants, as each pair costs 4 supply, and unlike other protoss commanders, Alarak has no quick answer to getting supply blocked. Always be building pylons to support your growing army as resources allow.

===The Talons of Slayn===

===The Talons of Slayn===

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Alarak's ascendants are terrifically powerful units.NotonlydoesPsionicOrb deal heavy damage toclusters of enemies, butitalsodamagesbuildings. Mind Blast meanwhile is a heavy damage single target ability with long range, perfect for focusing down powerful enemies including hybrid. With Power Overwhelming, ascendants will gain shield and ability damage each time they use Sacrifice, eventually having over 1000 shields and spells that deal more than three times normal damage. With a group of 9-12 ascendants and Empower Me, it is possible to wipe out an entire enemy compound and all enemies in it in a blink of an eye, as well as any wave at late game. However, goodAPM is critical to maximizingusageofascendants,rapidlycastingtheirspellstoquicklyobliterate enemies, andalsogood macro is necessarybecausesupplicants will be constantlysacrificedandthereforeinneed of replacement. Ascendants alsomakeeffectivesupportattackersduetotheirlongrange,boostedfurtherbyhavocs.Agoodstrategyconsistsinstartsacrificingsupplicants as soonasascendantsareproducedinordertomakethemmorepowerful,justhaveinmindthatastrongeconomywithsteady mineral income willbeneeded,andalsobesuretoalwayshaveenoughsupplicantsavailable to keep Alarak alive.

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Alarak's ascendants are some of the most powerful units Alarakhasaccessto,as they possess two spells that allow Alarak to deal incredibly high damage againstenemy units. Psionic Orb is the Ascendants' best method of eliminating enemy waves, asmultiplePsionicOrbsstack and can add up into an attack that eliminates even late-game waves incredibly quickly. Mind Blast meanwhile is a heavy damage single target ability with long range, perfect for focusing down powerful enemies including hybrid. With Power Overwhelming, ascendants will gain shield and ability damage each time they use Sacrifice, eventually having over 1000 shields and spells that deal more than three times normal damage. With a group of 20-24 ascendants and Empower Me, it is possible to wipe out an entire enemy compound and all enemies in it in a blink of an eye, as well as any wave at late game. However, tomaximize the power of Ascendants, it is important to regularlySacrificeSupplicantswheneveryouhavethechance;asaresult, althoughAscendants'Sacrifice is autocast,itmay be wisetomanuallyconsumeSupplicants whileoutside of battle so that you Ascendants cancontinuetogrowinpowerevenwhilethey'renotincombat,andthishelpsyouavoidgettingsupplyblockedorsupply capped as well.ToensurethatyouhaveacontinuoussupplyofSupplicantstokeeppoweringupAscendants,itisimportantthatyou havemaximum mineral income aswellasremembertomacro,regularlywarpinginSupplicants andputtingthoseminerals to use.

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Ascendants are unsuitedtoprolongedcombatduetothelongcooldownfor Sacrifice, and like all protosscasterstheyappreciatetimebetweenbattlestorecoverenergy and shields. Donotchargeintobattleblindlyand be patienttoallowascendants to regaintheirshieldsandcooldownsbeforeattackingagain, fortheyarequitefragile(atleastatfirst) and quiteexpensive to replace.

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Ascendants are particularlyweakagainststructures,astheycannotMindBlastthose and their Psionic Orb does not do high damage to structures at all;PsionicOrbisreallyonlyusefulagainstenemystaticdefense, and nothing else. Assuch,ifAlarakisgoingto be facingoffagainststructure-based objectives such as Void Slivers or Void Shards, then it may be best to letyourallykillthosewhileyoufocus on taking out the guarding units instead, oritmaybewisetoaddahigher number of Slayers to better deal damage against those structures. Warping in a Pylon next to the structure and thenOvercharging it is also a good way for Alarak to deal high damage against those structures.

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Ascendants are unsuited to prolonged combat due to the long cooldown for Sacrifice, and like all protoss casters they appreciate time between battles to recover energy and shields. It is important that you keep an eye on your Ascendants' energy bar before you commit to an attack, as having insufficient energy mid-battle can lead to catastrophic losses for Alarak's army. Careful management of Ascendants is required, as they are quite fragile (at least at first) and quite expensive to replace.

===We Are Reforged===

===We Are Reforged===

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Alarak's robotic forces are ratherineffectiveagainstnormalattackwavesduetotheirlongattackcooldowns,but they aremoreusefulagainststrongenemies.Wrathwalkersfocusingfirecanquicklyobliteratepowerfulenemies, particularlyhybrid, whilevanguardscankilllargenumbersofenemyarmoredunits. Remember to have supplicants to draw fire from these units to protect them, and exploit the wrathwalker's ability to attack while moving to kiteenemies and keep the wrathwalkers out of danger.

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Alarak's robotic forces are generallymuchweakerthanAlarak'sAscendantsastheylacktheAscendant'ssheerdamage output. As such, they willgenerallyhavegreaterdifficultyintakingoutenemywavesorbases.Thatsaid, theydo better than Ascendants in dealing damage to Structures, andtheyareAlarak'sbestoptionwhenhehasnot yet reached level 12. Remember to have supplicants to draw fire from these units to protect them, and if for whatever reason a player opts for Wrathwalkers, they can use the Wrathwalker's ability to fire while moving to getfree shots and keep the Wrathwalkers out of harm's way.

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Warprismsprovide a criticalsupportunitfor Alarak byvirtue of apowerfield, lettinghimwarpinmoreascendants and supplicantsinthefield if theplayerhasoverextendedthemselves. Theyalsooccupy a goodsupportroleasAlarak'ssoleairunit, thoughtheiroffensiveutility is minimal. If nothingelse, warprismsmakeadecentmineraldumpinlieu of ascendants, buttheplayerisusuallybetteroffbuildingmorewrathwalkers andvanguards.

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MassSlayeris generally Alarak's best option when using a Mechanical-basedcomposition,asthey have the best combination of mobility, durability, and burst damage. Vanguards don't synergize as well with Alarak, as his Destruction Wave can knockenemiesout of thewayof the Vanguard attacks, andVanguardstendtomiss their attacks against fast moving targets such as Zerglings. Generally players will opt for Slayers if they need an anti-armored option, as Slayers are capable of attacking air units aswell and haveasimilarDPS per cost and DPS per supply to Vanguards (possibly even higher if youaccountfortheir Blinkability). Wrathwalkersarebest used if there aren't a lotofsmall,swarmyunits you'regoingtobe facing, andifyou'regoing to be heavily attacking structures, as anti-structure damage is where Wrathwalkers truly shine. If therearen't a lot of structures that need to be killed, orifyou'regoingtobefacingalot of small, swarmyunits,thenit'sbesttostickwithAscendantsorSlayers.

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War prisms are somewhat overshadowed in Alarak's army, as they are generally set aside in favor of proxy Pylons, which are cheaper and provide additional supply for Alarak. Additionally, proxy Pylons can be Overcharge to give additional damage during an attack, and proxy Pylons do not require Robotics Facility tech to build. That said, War Prisms are an acceptable alternative if the player is willing to continuously micro the War Prism around, and they can be Overcharged in order to contribute additional damage to an attack, but they compete strongly with proxy Pylons if the player wants to use Overcharges offensively.

===The Death Fleet Descends===

===The Death Fleet Descends===

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Alarak's Death Fleet calldown is not as powerful offensively as other commander calldowns, such as the Apocalisk or Hyperion. His units are easily overwhelmed by large numbers of enemy air defenses, and even his mothership can quickly fall. Italsodoesnotretain its campaign counterpart's damage outputof300atmaxattackupgrade;itonlydeals54totaldamageandhasthesameslow attack speed, reducing the damage output and causing it to rely on its Thermal Lance for high amounts of damage. The Death Fleet, like Alarak and his ascendants, is best used to support Alarak's main army and help them overwhelm a fortified enemy position neither could do alone. The Death Fleet provides Alarak with additional anti-air firepower and air support, two things Alarak is usually in need of when attacking a base.

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Alarak's Death Fleet calldown is not as powerful offensively as other commander calldowns, such as the Apocalisk or Hyperion. His units are easily overwhelmed by large numbers of enemy air defenses, and even his mothership can quickly fall. Asofpatch4.9.0,it's damage isupto59x6pervolleyfor345damagemax(sinceallairunitsstartwithlevel3 attack upgrades) and with its Thermal Lance,it can deal high amounts of damage. The Death Fleet, like Alarak and his ascendants, is best used to support Alarak's main army and help them overwhelm a fortified enemy position neither could do alone. The Death Fleet provides Alarak with additional anti-air firepower and air support, two things Alarak is usually in need of when attacking a base.

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The mothership's Mass Teleport ability is very useful;with no cooldown it wields the ability to rapidly teleport itself and allied armies around the map. Use scouts to find points of weakness and targets of opportunities, and have the mothership warp itself and your army there for a backdoor attack. Alternatively if the battle is going poorly, quickly warp back to base to minimize losses, gather reinforcements, and re-enter the fray.

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The mothership's Mass Teleport ability is very useful and is likely its most useful asset, as it temporarily nullifies . With no cooldown, it possesses the ability to rapidly teleport itself and allied armies around the map. Use scouts to find points of weakness and targets of opportunities, and have the mothership warp itself and your army there for a backdoor attack. Alternatively if the battle is going poorly, quickly warp back to base to minimize losses, gather reinforcements, and re-enter the fray.

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Perhaps the Death Fleet's greatest strength is that, as a calldown, the units can be deployed anywhere Alarak has vision and they are expendable.

[[Karax (Co-op Missions)|'''Karax''']] is a moderately effective teammate for Alarak. While Alarak is geared towards overwhelming offense, Karax favors impenetrable defense. Thus Alarak can focus his attention on attacking the enemy while Karax defends their bases and uses his calldown abilities to focus down stronger units Alarak may have trouble with. Reconstruction Beam is invaluable to support Alarak's fragile wrathwalkers and vanguards, and carriers with repair drones makes a powerful army combined with Alarak's robotic forces. The player can use Alarak's Structure Overcharge to power up Karax's defenses even further when faced with an overwhelming enemy force.

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[[Vorazun (Co-op Missions)|'''Vorazun''']] is a good teammate for Alarak, supplementing the latter's low DPS with hers. Emergency Recall will save his valuable havocs, and her corsairs and void rays provide powerful air support to supplement Alarak's ground-focused armies. In large offensive battles, Alarak can use the mothership summoned by the Death Fleet to warp to the players' bases to retrieve units saved by Emergency Recall, then teleport them back to the front lines. Black Hole can set up large numbers of enemy ground units, particularly hybrid, to be decimated by Alarak's vanguards and ascendants, or to be trapped by Force Fields. Alarak's havocs alleviate Vorazun's reliance on oracles for detection, saving her time having to tech to stargates. Alarak's expendable army can act as distraction for Vorazun's dark templar groups to punch through enemy defenses.

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[[Fenix (Co-op Missions)|'''Fenix''']] andAlarakaredependentonpracticeandproperstrategy,withoutthoseelements, theirsynergyisterrible. Atfirstglance, their armies and herocapabilitiesoverlapandrendereachotherredundant.But with propermanagement, theycanbecome a duo with an extremelylethal, albeitfragile, fightingforce.Exceptwhenonecommandertries to rushhisorhersuperunits,carriersorwrathwalkers.

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[[Karax (Co-op Missions)|'''Karax''']] isamoderatelyeffectiveteammateforAlarak.WhileAlarakisgearedtowards overwhelming offense, Karaxfavorsimpenetrabledefense. ThusAlarakcan focus his attention on attacking the enemy while Karax defends their bases and useshiscalldownabilitiestofocusdownstrongerunits Alarak may have trouble with.ReconstructionBeam is invaluable to support Alarak's fragile wrathwalkers and vanguards, andcarrierswith repair drones makes a powerful army combined with Alarak's robotic forces. The player can use Alarak's Structure Overcharge to power up Karax's defenses even further when faced with an overwhelmingenemy force. Karax's Spear of Adun abilities, whichhave global range, canhelpwithAlarak'sweakermobility,allowing Karax to eliminatetheenemiesAlarakmayhavedifficultyreachingin time.

[[Vorazun (Co-op Missions)|'''Vorazun''']]isagood teammatefor Alarak. Her Dark Pylon can function both as an attacking structure with Structure Overcharge, as well as a means to offset Alarak's low mobility. Vorazun's high DPS Dark Templar provide excellent anti-structuredamage,whichisofgreatassistance to the lowanti-structuredamagean Ascendant build has. BlackHolesynergizesparticularlywellwiththelargeamountofsplash damage Alarak caninflictwithhis Ascendants, as well as allowing Alarak's Destruction Wave to hit more enemy units, whichcan be deadly if Alarak is buffed by Empower Me. Alarak'shavocsalleviateVorazun'srelianceonoraclesfordetection,whichcanallow Vorazun to skipStargates if Alarak can consistent have his Havocs follow Vorazun's forces.Alarak'sexpendable army can act as distraction for Vorazun's dark templar groups to punch through enemydefenses.

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Witheffortandmanagement,AlarakandFenixcanworkwelltogetherasherounits.Alarak can providecrowdcontroltokeepFenixaliveviahisabilitiesortheDeathFleet,andFenixcanprovidetheDPStokeepAlarakrecharging.

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[[Fenix(Co-opMissions)|'''Fenix''']]canbeofhighvaluetoAlarakwithhisCybrosArbiter,which can useMassRecallforswiftrelocationofAlarak'sforcestooffsethislowmobility.Alarak'sexceptionalwave-clearingabilitycancompensateforFenix'slackthereof.

===Terran Commanders===

===Terran Commanders===

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[[Jim Raynor (Co-op Missions)|'''Raynor''']] is an excellent teammate for Alarak, providing a large army to increase the effectiveness of Empower Me as well as anti-air support with marines. Alarak in turn can provide havocs to boost the attack range of marines. Combining their cooldowns allows Raynor to warp the ''Hyperion'' to any point on the map, at which point Alarak can immediately send in the Death Fleet to support it, or even better, teleport their armies to the ''Hyperion'' en masse. Alarak's wrathwalkers and ascendants can quickly focusdown powerful enemy units that poseathreattoRaynor'sfragilemarines.Inadditiontothat, Raynor's medics can healAlarak's units, allowing them to last longeron the frontline.

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[[Jim Raynor (Co-op Missions)|'''Raynor''']] is an excellent teammate for Alarak, providing a large army to increase the effectiveness of Empower Me. Alarak in turn can provide havocs to boost the attack range of marines. Combining their cooldowns allows Raynor to warp the ''Hyperion'' to any point on the map, at which point Alarak can immediately send in the Death Fleet to support it, or teleport their armies to the ''Hyperion'' en masse if desired. Alarak's Ascendants can quickly eliminateany enemy units that standintheirway,particularlyunitsthatthreatenbiounitssuch as High Templar or Colossi, allowing for Raynor's high DPS bio army to finish off the remains unimpeded. Raynor can provideMedics to provide sustainability to Supplicants or Mechanical units, allowing Alarak's army to last muchlonger.

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[[Rory Swann (Co-op Missions)|'''Swann''']] isanexcellentteammateforAlarak.Hisgoliaths and thorsprovideapowerfulanti-airarmytosupplement Alarak's ground-focused army, and Swann'ssciencevessels and SCVs can repair Alarak'sroboticunitsanduseDefensiveMatrixtosavethemfromdeath.Togethertheyarethe only two commanders to bothhaveaccesstotransports,thewarprismand hercules, makingthemhighly mobile. Swann'svespeneharvestershelp negate Alarak's gas deficiency, allowing him to mass Ascendants or robotic units. In defensive missions, Alarak and Swann prove devastating to swarmsoflightunits due to their crowd-control ability - with Alarak's Destruction Wave,VanguardsandAscendantsbackingupSwann's Siege Tanks, andbotharmiesgainexcellentrangethankstoHavocs, nottomention Structure Overcharge can both help Swann's turretssurvivelonger, but to beevendeadlier.

[[Nova Terra (Co-op Missions)|'''Nova''']] synergizesmoderately with Alarak, asher small army won't give him nearly as much power when he uses Empower Me. Nova can cover for Alarak's anti-air, but neither one is trulystrong at defenses (since Alarak's Structure Overcharge has cooldowns on its charges). BothcantransporttheirunitsquicklyacrossamapusingacombinationofNova'sTacticalAirliftandAlarak's Death Fleet,creatingsomeredundancy. Alarak's havocs can extend the range of Nova's army and,ifmicroed, can keepthemsafefromharmwithforcefields,while Nova's ravens can heal Alarak's units as needed.

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[[Nova Terra (Co-op Missions)|'''Nova's''']]''''''hasmostly modest synergy with Alarak.Her small army won't give him nearly as much power when he uses Empower Me. Furthermore, neither one is reallyexcel at defense (since Alarak's Structure Overcharge has cooldowns on its charges). TacticalAirlifthasashortercooldownthantheDeathFleet,andAlarakwillappreciateintelligentusageofthe airlift while the Death Fleet isoncooldown. Alarak's havocs can extend the range of Nova's army and couldprovide protection with Force Field, but this is mostly useful in the early game when Nova doesn't have the economy to back up heavier Griffin Airstrike usage yet. Alarak can donate2or3ofhisgasgeysers to Nova if he wants once he finishes his initial investment into upgrades and Ascendants. Nova's ravens can heal Alarak's units as needed.

[[Han and Horner (Co-op Missions)|'''Han and Horner''']] provide a large army of cheap units, making Empower Me very powerful when used alongside them. If Han and Horner go a heavier reaper/hellion/hellbat composition, it makes Alarak's Empower Me into a devastating ability. Both Alarak's [[havoc]]s and Horner's Theia ravens have variations on the Target Lock/Sense Weakness ability, increasing the damage both armies do to surrounding units. Han and Horner also have heavier air units, which can mop up after Alarak's ascendants have laid down their Psionic Orbs and Mind Blasts.

[[Han and Horner (Co-op Missions)|'''Han and Horner''']] provide a large army of cheap units, making Empower Me very powerful when used alongside them. If Han and Horner go a heavier reaper/hellion/hellbat composition, it makes Alarak's Empower Me into a devastating ability. Both Alarak's [[havoc]]s and Horner's Theia ravens have variations on the Target Lock/Sense Weakness ability, increasing the damage both armies do to surrounding units. Han and Horner also have heavier air units, which can mop up after Alarak's ascendants have laid down their Psionic Orbs and Mind Blasts.

===Zerg Commanders===

===Zerg Commanders===

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[[Sarah Kerrigan (Co-op Missions)|'''Kerrigan''']] is an effectiveteammateforAlarak.She has a strong anti-air presence with hydralisks and mutalisks, while Alarak provides crowd control she lacks with ascendants and vanguards. Kerrigan's raptors and upgraded torrasques can bypass Alarak's supplicants to get into melee range easily, while hydralisks fire from behind them and ascendants from behind them, thustheir armies synergizeperfectlyinbattle. Havocsupport to increasetheirattackrangeanddamagetoselectenemiesisalsoofgreatbenefit, ontopofnegating the necessity of overseers.Immobilizationwavewillalsominimizedamagereceived, keepingsupplicantsinhighnumbersmuchlonger.Together,Kerrigan and Alarak can decimateenemiesasherounits,especiallywhenbotharelevel15atwhichpointalloftheirabilitycool-downsareeithersuperfastornonexistent. Omega wormsarealsoaperfectalternativeforrapid army transitionwithouttheDeathFleettoteleportunits.

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[[Sarah Kerrigan (Co-op Missions)|'''Kerrigan''']] is an allythatsynergizesverywell with Alarak. Kerrigan's raptors and upgraded torrasques can bypass Alarak's supplicants to get into melee range easily, allowing them to reach the enemy much more easily, while hydralisks fire from behind them and ascendants from behind them, whichcan help minimize how much the two armies conflictwitheachother. Kerrigan's Omega Worms are also of greatvalue to Alarak,asthewormscanbothgreatlyassistAlarak'smeagermobilityaswellas function as very tanky, high-DPSturretsifAlarak chooses to Overcharge them. Alaraks' Havocs can bolster the range of Hydraliskstogivethemaverylongattack range, butgiventhatHydraliskswillusuallybetravellinginside of Omega Worms and thus leave any following Havocs behind, it can berathercumbersomeforAlaraktorepeatedlymicrohisHavocsandtryingtohavethemtravelalongsidetheHydralisks;assuch,ifKerriganistravelling very heavily with Omega Worms,itmaybewisetoplacethose Havocs in Alarak's army insteadofhavingthemcontinuouslybeleft behind by theHydralisks.

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[[Zagara (Co-op Missions)|'''Zagara''']] is an effective teammate for Alarak. She provides a very large army for Alarak's Empower Me ability, and her swarmlings provide expendable melee troops to enter battle with Alarak. Supplicants shielded by aberrations are surprisingly effective tanks due to their defensive buffs, and Mass Frenzy also powers them up greatly. Alarak can use Destruction Wave to knock enemies into the range of Zagara's mostly short-ranged army, andotherwise is ascendantsaregood to focusdownpowerfulenemyunitsZagara'sarmymayhavetroublewith.

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[[Zagara (Co-op Missions)|'''Zagara''']] is a moderately effective teammate for Alarak. She provides a very large army for Alarak's Empower Me ability, and her swarmlings provide expendable melee troops to enter battle with Alarak. Supplicants shielded by aberrations are surprisingly effective tanks due to their defensive buffs. Alarak can use Destruction Wave to knock enemies into the range of Zagara's mostly short-ranged army. Ascendants can easily eliminate late-game attack waves, whichZagara can have considerable some difficulty with, especially on harder mutations. Mass Frenzy is ofvery limitedvalue to anAscendantbuild,assuchabuildhasverylowauto-attack damage, but it does benefit a Slayer or a Robotics build much more heavily, and can bolster their otherwise lower damage output.

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[[Abathur (Co-op Missions)|'''Abathur''']] isadebatableteammate for Alarak. Abathurtendstohaveasmallarmyofshort-rangedunits, whileAlarakwantsalargeallyforEmpowerMeandlikewisemustrely on short-rangedunits, thesupplicant. When paired, it is best for Alarak to focus on a ground army while Abathur gets an aerial army, their two forcescomplimentingthe other. In addition to mend, Swarm Queens can empower Alarak while also using rapid transfusion. Because of Alarak's damage output, it should be easy to kill large numbers of enemies while leaving Abathur to collect more biomass so brutalisks and leviathans draw fire away from Alarak, keeping him and his supplicants alive longer. In a pinch, Alarak and expensive army units can be abducted to safety. Further empowerment is possible with large groups of locusts.

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[[Abathur (Co-op Missions)|'''Abathur''']] posessesmodestsynergywith Alarak. AlarakcanknockenemiesintoToxicNestswithhisDestruction Wave, butifhe'snotcarefulhecaninsteadknockenemiesawayfromthe Toxic Nests, which can reduce Abathur's biomass supply early on inthe game. Thus, Alarakshould pay attention to where he throws his enemies if he wants to be more beneficial to an Abathur ally. When paired, it is best for Alarak to focus on a ground army (which is his only viable option anyways as he lacks a Stargate) while Abathur gets an aerial army, to minimize the two armiesconstantlycolliding with each other. In addition to mend, Swarm Queens can empower Alarak while also using rapid transfusion to sustain his forces. Because of Alarak's damage output, it should be easy to kill large numbers of enemies while leaving Abathur to collect more biomass so brutalisks and leviathans draw fire away from Alarak, keeping him and his supplicants alive longer. In a pinch, Alarak and expensive army units can be abducted to safety. Further empowerment is possible with large groups of locusts, which could either come from a large group of enemies that have been killed, or they could come from Swarm Hosts if Abathur chooses not to go with an aerial army for that game.

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[[Alexei Stukov (Co-op Missions)|'''Stukov''']] isanexcellentteammatefor Alarak.Theinfesteddiamondback'sFungalSnarecanbringairunitsdownintothereachof Alarak'ssupplicantsandvanguardsand Stukov's infested infantry provides plenty of fuel for Empower Me. In addition, Structure Overcharge can be used on Stukov's forward structures, especiallytheinfestedbunkerso that it will be able to attack anytargetand,withafullymasteredAlarak,absorbwellover1500damage. Itcaneven be combined with Infest Structure for bothextraunits on thefrontlineand a reasonablysoliddefense. Forlategameanti-air, infestedliberators can relievethepressurefromslayers and wrathwalkersquiteabit.

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[[Alexei Stukov (Co-op Missions)|'''Stukov''']] providesmostlybasicsynergywith Alarak,astheirmostusefulsynergyismostlyInfestedbolsteringAlarak'sEmpowerMeanddoesn'tgoveryfarbeyond this. That said, Stukov's infested infantry does provide plenty of fuel for Empower Me in addition to screening very well for Ascendants while they are in their weaker stages, as well as functioning as cleanup duty to take out leftover structures and weaker enemies while Alarak moves on to clear another area of enemies. In addition, Structure Overcharge can be used on Stukov's forward structures, butitisimportantto note that unfortunately, Infested Bunkers will not attack enemies with the Structure Overcharge weapon if they are uprooted; they must be rooted to attack withtheStructureOverchargeweapon.TheywillstillbenefitfromStructureOvercharge'sshield in both rooted and uprooted form, however. StructureOverchargecan be combined with Infest Structure to allow for averystalwart, if temporary, defense; while this shouldn't be relied on asalong-termsolution, it can work very well as a short-termstopgapfor an enemy attack. Stukov'sInfestedDiamondbacks can bring down air units for Vanguards to attack, whichmay seem like a good idea if you're up against an air composition, but in practice, it can bequiteriskyasthis leaves Alarak completely dependant on Stukov's Diamondbacks in this case; if you're against an air composition, you're really better off building Ascendants or Slayers instead and allowingStukovto focus his efforts elsewhere instead of babysittingyou.

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[[Dehaka (Co-op Missions)|'''Dehaka''']] and Alarak have some power together, but mostly aren’t the most powerful of combinations. Both rely on powerful hero units that are designed to take the brunt of a lot of damage, which whilepowerfulbothsufferwheninthefaceofabilitiesthatdoheavysingletarget damage like yamato cannon. Dehaka usuallyhasamedium-sizedarmyrelevanttohissupplyduetotheprimalcombatmechanic,sohegivesbelowaveragebenefit to Alarak'sEmpowerMeability.However,Dehaka'spackleaderscancoverfortheglobalpresenceAlarak lacks, allowinghimtosavehisDeathFleetabilityforastickysituation,whileAlarak'sstructureoverchargeprovidesareliabledefensethatwillusually beoffcooldown.

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[[Dehaka (Co-op Missions)|'''Dehaka''']] and Alarak have some power together, but mostly aren’t the most powerful of combinations. Both rely on powerful hero units that are designed to take the brunt of a lot of damage, which canworkearlygameasDehakaisstillworkingonlevellinguphisherounit. Dehaka'sprimalpackleaderscanprovideglobalpresencethatAlarakotherwiselacks,whichcanbehelpfulifhisDeathFleetisunavailable. Alarak canuseStructureOverchargeonPrimalWurmstogivethemadditionalpoweranddurability, andthePrimalWurmscanDeepTunneltowardsenemiestoavoidwastingtheStructureOvercharge;unfortunately,StructureOverchargedoesnotworkonGreaterPrimalWurms.

==Achievements==

==Achievements==

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==Trivia==

==Trivia==

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*In the mission "[[Chain of Ascension (mission)|Chain of Ascension]]," [[Ji'nara]] will sometimes use different dialogue throughout the mission to directly address Alarak.

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*In the mission "[[Chain of Ascension (mission)|Chain of Ascension]]," [[Ji'nara]] will use different dialogue throughout the mission to directly address Alarak.

*Sometimes while casting Structure Overcharge, Alarak will say, "I find your lack of defenses disturbing." This is a reference to a similar line said by [[wikipedia:Darth Vader|Darth Vader]] in ''Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope''.

*Sometimes while casting Structure Overcharge, Alarak will say, "I find your lack of defenses disturbing." This is a reference to a similar line said by [[wikipedia:Darth Vader|Darth Vader]] in ''Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope''.

*Clicking the central gem on Alarak's top bar will cause it to light up, followed by a voice clip of Alarak chastising the player for wasting time.

*Clicking the central gem on Alarak's top bar will cause it to light up, followed by a voice clip of Alarak chastising the player for wasting time.

Revision as of 12:32, February 18, 2020

"Alarak is unique as a Commander: he is the first Protoss Commander that you’ll directly control in battle, and he has Hero abilities as well as global abilities that can be activated at the top of the screen. He wields massive destructive potential, but is also relatively fragile as Hero units go. He makes up for this weakness by drawing upon the life force of friend and foe alike. His passive, Soul Absorption, restores health and shields whenever an enemy is slain. It also allows him to steal the souls of his allies whenever he is near death—with no cooldown. Alarak -WILL- be the last one standing!"

Miscellaneous

Notes

Alarak is a commander in Co-op Missions introduced in Patch 3.6. Alarak personally takes the field as a hero unit similar to Kerrigan and Zagara. In addition, he has the ability to field powerful Tal'darim units, and call down the Death Fleet to annihilate his foes.[1]

Bane Blades

Damage

Targets

Range

Psionic Lightning

Damage

Targets

Range

2

As a hero unit, Alarak is fragile, but a powerful all-around attacker. His Deadly Charge and Destruction Wave abilities let him deal heavy damage, and does not need energy for them, letting him use them constantly without fear. With a healthy supply of supplicants to support him, Alarak is virtually invincible, automatically healing constantly as he fights. He can also use Destruction Wave to knock enemies into range of his army, both preventing an escape and putting the enemies in closer .

The utility of Alarak's Empower Me ability cannot be overstated. With enough allied units nearby, Alarak's attacking abilities can deal several hundred damage, letting him decimate waves upon waves of enemies with ease. There is no cap to how strong he can become as long as there are units near him, his power will continue to grow. However, due to its lengthy cooldown, Empower Me is best saved for heavy battles where Alarak will need the boost in offense.

Alarak's biggest weakness is that, by himself, he is not very effective; he can kill small groups of enemies alone, but requires a healthy supply of supplicants to keep alive. While his damaging abilities are spammable, they don't do much damage by themselves. Alarak is best used in tandem with a large army that can provide support fire and tributes to heal him, while Alarak himself charges into combat to draw fire and soften up enemies for his followers to finish off. Alone, he is easily overwhelmed and killed.

20Mastery: +1 per Empower Me duration mastery point. Up to a maximum 50

Cooldown

240

Notes

Biological units provide a 5% damage bonus per supply up to 100 supply, and then provide 2.5% per supply onwards. Mechanical units provide 10% damage bonus per supply up to 100 supply, and then provide 5% per supply onwards.

Supply count is additive, with biological units favored first. So if you have 100 supply in bio and 1 supply in mechanical units, the mechanical units will provide the reduced rate of 5%.

20Mastery: +1 per Empower Me duration mastery point. Up to a maximum 50

Cooldown

240

Notes

Biological units provide a 5% damage bonus per supply up to 100 supply, and then provide 2.5% per supply onwards. Mechanical units provide 10% damage bonus per supply up to 100 supply, and then provide 5% per supply onwards.

Supply count is additive, with biological units favored first. So if you have 100 supply in bio and 1 supply in mechanical units, the mechanical units will provide the reduced rate of 5%.

Unlocks the following upgrades at the ascendant archives:• Increase the travel distance of the ascendant's Psionic Orb.• Sacrifice grants ascendants a stacking permanent increase to ability damage and shields.

Strategies

Alarak and his forces are all about overwhelming offense. His units are fragile and easily killed if not protected, as is Alarak himself, but they can quickly decimate enemy forces. Alarak tends to have large numbers of supplicants to soak up enemy fire while his ascendants, vanguards, and wrathwalkers provide the damage output. Proper microing of these units to maximize their utility and keep them out of danger is important to success.

Recommended masteries

Power Set 1: Alarak Attack Damage (with Ascendants)

☀Alarak attack damage: +1 – +30

If going Ascendants, unit attack speed isn't that useful, and it gives Alarak more power early-game, if going mech on the other hand the attack speed mastery will be the stronger choice mid-late game.

Power Set 2: Death Fleet cooldown

☀Death Fleet cooldown: -4 sec – -120 sec

With full masteries, the Death Fleet cooldown get down to only 4 min, with good planning, you can use it pretty reliably to bust your forces while assaulting hard defend areas and take down objectives.

Power Set 3: Structure Overcharge Shield and Attack Speed

☀Structure Overcharge shield and attack speed: +2% – +60%

At full mastery Alarak can use Structure Overcharge to quickly break the rocks blocking his expansions. He will also be able to hold off enemy attacks without an army.

Later on it can also be used offensively with War Prism in phase mode.

Empower Me, Minions

Empower Me increases the damage of Alarak's attacks and spells by a flat amount/percentage based off the supply of allied units near Alarak during the effect. This includes certain heroic and spawned units.
The increases for Alarak's attacks and spells are as follows:

Attack Damage increases by 1 per supply, and

Ability Damage increases by 5% per supply up to 100 supply, and half that amount for each supply past 100.

Hostile Forces Approaching. Break Them

Alarak's Structure Overcharge power is very effective at halting unexpected enemy attacks, especially when mastery levels are put into it to increase its defensive shield and attack rate. Unless playing a defense-heavy mission, Alarak can completely forego photon cannons and build a couple of extra gateways to overcharge as needed. It is best to overcharge high-HP buildings clumped with each other, to make it more difficult for enemy troops to get into attack range.

Structure Overcharge is also very effective at clearing out the rocks blocking expansions. A single Structure Overcharge can destroy the main rock, and with full mastery, both of the vespene rocks. An really early expansion for Alarak is a good idea to build up a strong economy quickly, but this comes with the obvious drawback of putting off the player's other building options to focus on saving up for a new nexus and probes to mine. In this circumstance, good usage of Alarak in the early game is important as the player will not have much money to train or upgrade their army.

Try to use Structure Overcharge whenever you are nearing 3 charges, as they are limited by cooldown rather than resource cost and they contribute considerable damage; if the player is maxed out on charges, then the cooldown stops, preventing the player from getting additional charges. Ideally a player doesn't waste the sheer damage output one Structure Overcharge can potentially provide.

My Life for the Highlord

Alarak himself is mostly useful in the early game to defend his economy and complete objectives while he's still getting his economy going and getting the upgrades he requires to win the game. Late game, the strength of his army will greatly overtake Alarak, but he is still useful with his Empower Me ability, which allows Alarak's power to grow proportionally to the strength of his army, as well as acting as a light tank for his army as he heals himself continually while his enemies die.

Supplicant management is important to consider if playing with an Ascendant build. If the player does not quickly kill the enemies attacking him and keeps letting them get free hits off, they run the risk of suffering heavy Supplicant losses as Alarak consumes them to keep himself alive. This is not ideal if Alarak is going for an Ascendant build, as he needs those Supplicants to give his Ascendants additional strength, and continuously losing Supplicants like this will quickly demolish Alarak's mineral reserves.

If Alarak opts for a mechanical-based build, then the Supplicants can be better dedicated to keeping Alarak alive instead of saving them for Ascendants, but it is still important to avoid going into battle with no Supplicants. Supplicants are good at drawing enemy fire away from the more fragile Mechanical units, and they provide Alarak with sacrifices he can use to keep himself alive.

It is also important to note that if Alarak runs out of Supplicants nearby to consume, he will instead consume a nearby army unit at random to keep himself alive. This can prove disastrous if he consumes an Ascendant with several Power Overwhelming stacks, as this is a huge time commitment that has been suddenly lost. It can be similarly disastrous if Alarak starts to consume large amounts of Slayers, or if he consumes a Wrathwalker or other expensive units. While in a fight with Alarak, it's important to watch the fight and see if it's going badly and Alarak's army is starting to die quickly. If Alarak is running low on Supplicants and rapidly devouring his supply of them, it is best to retreat and come back later with more Supplicants and firepower later on, to avoid Alarak wiping out his own army in an attempt to keep himself alive. If the player is trying to retreat, Alarak's Destruction Wave is quite useful to push enemies away and allow his army to make distance.

Keep an eye on supply when building supplicants, as each pair costs 4 supply, and unlike other protoss commanders, Alarak has no quick answer to getting supply blocked. Always be building pylons to support your growing army as resources allow.

The Talons of Slayn

Alarak's ascendants are some of the most powerful units Alarak has access to, as they possess two spells that allow Alarak to deal incredibly high damage against enemy units. Psionic Orb is the Ascendants' best method of eliminating enemy waves, as multiple Psionic Orbs stack and can add up into an attack that eliminates even late-game waves incredibly quickly. Mind Blast meanwhile is a heavy damage single target ability with long range, perfect for focusing down powerful enemies including hybrid. With Power Overwhelming, ascendants will gain shield and ability damage each time they use Sacrifice, eventually having over 1000 shields and spells that deal more than three times normal damage. With a group of 20-24 ascendants and Empower Me, it is possible to wipe out an entire enemy compound and all enemies in it in a blink of an eye, as well as any wave at late game. However, to maximize the power of Ascendants, it is important to regularly Sacrifice Supplicants whenever you have the chance; as a result, although Ascendants' Sacrifice is autocast, it may be wise to manually consume Supplicants while outside of battle so that you Ascendants can continue to grow in power even while they're not in combat, and this helps you avoid getting supply blocked or supply capped as well. To ensure that you have a continuous supply of Supplicants to keep powering up Ascendants, it is important that you have maximum mineral income as well as remember to macro, regularly warping in Supplicants and putting those minerals to use.

Ascendants are particularly weak against structures, as they cannot Mind Blast those and their Psionic Orb does not do high damage to structures at all; Psionic Orb is really only useful against enemy static defense, and nothing else. As such, if Alarak is going to be facing off against structure-based objectives such as Void Slivers or Void Shards, then it may be best to let your ally kill those while you focus on taking out the guarding units instead, or it may be wise to add a higher number of Slayers to better deal damage against those structures. Warping in a Pylon next to the structure and then Overcharging it is also a good way for Alarak to deal high damage against those structures.

Ascendants are unsuited to prolonged combat due to the long cooldown for Sacrifice, and like all protoss casters they appreciate time between battles to recover energy and shields. It is important that you keep an eye on your Ascendants' energy bar before you commit to an attack, as having insufficient energy mid-battle can lead to catastrophic losses for Alarak's army. Careful management of Ascendants is required, as they are quite fragile (at least at first) and quite expensive to replace.

We Are Reforged

Alarak's robotic forces are generally much weaker than Alarak's Ascendants as they lack the Ascendant's sheer damage output. As such, they will generally have greater difficulty in taking out enemy waves or bases. That said, they do better than Ascendants in dealing damage to Structures, and they are Alarak's best option when he has not yet reached level 12. Remember to have supplicants to draw fire from these units to protect them, and if for whatever reason a player opts for Wrathwalkers, they can use the Wrathwalker's ability to fire while moving to get free shots and keep the Wrathwalkers out of harm's way.

Mass Slayer is generally Alarak's best option when using a Mechanical-based composition, as they have the best combination of mobility, durability, and burst damage. Vanguards don't synergize as well with Alarak, as his Destruction Wave can knock enemies out of the way of the Vanguard attacks, and Vanguards tend to miss their attacks against fast moving targets such as Zerglings. Generally players will opt for Slayers if they need an anti-armored option, as Slayers are capable of attacking air units as well and have a similar DPS per cost and DPS per supply to Vanguards (possibly even higher if you account for their Blink ability). Wrathwalkers are best used if there aren't a lot of small, swarmy units you're going to be facing, and if you're going to be heavily attacking structures, as anti-structure damage is where Wrathwalkers truly shine. If there aren't a lot of structures that need to be killed, or if you're going to be facing a lot of small, swarmy units, then it's best to stick with Ascendants or Slayers.

War prisms are somewhat overshadowed in Alarak's army, as they are generally set aside in favor of proxy Pylons, which are cheaper and provide additional supply for Alarak. Additionally, proxy Pylons can be Overcharge to give additional damage during an attack, and proxy Pylons do not require Robotics Facility tech to build. That said, War Prisms are an acceptable alternative if the player is willing to continuously micro the War Prism around, and they can be Overcharged in order to contribute additional damage to an attack, but they compete strongly with proxy Pylons if the player wants to use Overcharges offensively.

The Death Fleet Descends

Alarak's Death Fleet calldown is not as powerful offensively as other commander calldowns, such as the Apocalisk or Hyperion. His units are easily overwhelmed by large numbers of enemy air defenses, and even his mothership can quickly fall. As of patch 4.9.0, it's damage is up to 59x6 per volley for 345 damage max (since all air units start with level 3 attack upgrades) and with its Thermal Lance, it can deal high amounts of damage. The Death Fleet, like Alarak and his ascendants, is best used to support Alarak's main army and help them overwhelm a fortified enemy position neither could do alone. The Death Fleet provides Alarak with additional anti-air firepower and air support, two things Alarak is usually in need of when attacking a base.

The mothership's Mass Teleport ability is very useful and is likely its most useful asset, as it temporarily nullifies . With no cooldown, it possesses the ability to rapidly teleport itself and allied armies around the map. Use scouts to find points of weakness and targets of opportunities, and have the mothership warp itself and your army there for a backdoor attack. Alternatively if the battle is going poorly, quickly warp back to base to minimize losses, gather reinforcements, and re-enter the fray.

Synergies

Protoss Commanders

Artanis synergizes decently with Alarak. This Guardian Shell can protect Alarak's Ascendants while they are still gaining Power Overwhelming stacks, or it can protect Alarak in the early game to allow him to be a bit more aggressive than normal. This same Guardian Shell can also protect Alarak's Supplicants to allow them to live as fodder for Ascendants and Alarak, preventing enemies from killing Supplicants prior to the Sacrifice. Artanis's Power Field allow for faster reinforcements with a Slayer build if Alarak opts for such a build, or it can provide faster Supplicants if it is deemed necessary.

Karax is a moderately effective teammate for Alarak. While Alarak is geared towards overwhelming offense, Karax favors impenetrable defense. Thus Alarak can focus his attention on attacking the enemy while Karax defends their bases and uses his calldown abilities to focus down stronger units Alarak may have trouble with. Reconstruction Beam is invaluable to support Alarak's fragile wrathwalkers and vanguards, and carriers with repair drones makes a powerful army combined with Alarak's robotic forces. The player can use Alarak's Structure Overcharge to power up Karax's defenses even further when faced with an overwhelming enemy force. Karax's Spear of Adun abilities, which have global range, can help with Alarak's weaker mobility, allowing Karax to eliminate the enemies Alarak may have difficulty reaching in time.

Vorazun is a good teammate for Alarak. Her Dark Pylon can function both as an attacking structure with Structure Overcharge, as well as a means to offset Alarak's low mobility. Vorazun's high DPS Dark Templar provide excellent anti-structure damage, which is of great assistance to the low anti-structure damage an Ascendant build has. Black Hole synergizes particularly well with the large amount of splash damage Alarak can inflict with his Ascendants, as well as allowing Alarak's Destruction Wave to hit more enemy units, which can be deadly if Alarak is buffed by Empower Me. Alarak's havocs alleviate Vorazun's reliance on oracles for detection, which can allow Vorazun to skip Stargates if Alarak can consistent have his Havocs follow Vorazun's forces. Alarak's expendable army can act as distraction for Vorazun's dark templar groups to punch through enemy defenses.

Fenix can be of high value to Alarak with his Cybros Arbiter, which can use Mass Recall for swift relocation of Alarak's forces to offset his low mobility. Alarak's exceptional wave-clearing ability can compensate for Fenix's lack thereof.

Terran Commanders

Raynor is an excellent teammate for Alarak, providing a large army to increase the effectiveness of Empower Me. Alarak in turn can provide havocs to boost the attack range of marines. Combining their cooldowns allows Raynor to warp the Hyperion to any point on the map, at which point Alarak can immediately send in the Death Fleet to support it, or teleport their armies to the Hyperion en masse if desired. Alarak's Ascendants can quickly eliminate any enemy units that stand in their way, particularly units that threaten bio units such as High Templar or Colossi, allowing for Raynor's high DPS bio army to finish off the remains unimpeded. Raynor can provide Medics to provide sustainability to Supplicants or Mechanical units, allowing Alarak's army to last much longer.

Swann's main synergy with Alarak comes from his Science Vessels and Vespene Drones. Science Vessels can sustain a mechanical-based army, and Vespene Drones allow Alarak to build said mechanical army much faster. Swann's global mobility with Hercules dropships allows him to intercept attack waves much faster than Alarak usually can, which can allow Swann to compensate for Alarak's sluggishness. Alarak's access to Force Fields and knockback with Destruction Wave can be of some value to Siege Tanks, buying them additional time to blast at the enemy, but this situation rarely occurs in practice. Structure Overcharge can assist Swann's defense should the need arise.

Nova'shas mostly modest synergy with Alarak. Her small army won't give him nearly as much power when he uses Empower Me. Furthermore, neither one is really excel at defense (since Alarak's Structure Overcharge has cooldowns on its charges). Tactical Airlift has a shorter cooldown than the Death Fleet, and Alarak will appreciate intelligent usage of the airlift while the Death Fleet is on cooldown. Alarak's havocs can extend the range of Nova's army and could provide protection with Force Field, but this is mostly useful in the early game when Nova doesn't have the economy to back up heavier Griffin Airstrike usage yet. Alarak can donate 2 or 3 of his gas geysers to Nova if he wants once he finishes his initial investment into upgrades and Ascendants. Nova's ravens can heal Alarak's units as needed.

Han and Horner provide a large army of cheap units, making Empower Me very powerful when used alongside them. If Han and Horner go a heavier reaper/hellion/hellbat composition, it makes Alarak's Empower Me into a devastating ability. Both Alarak's havocs and Horner's Theia ravens have variations on the Target Lock/Sense Weakness ability, increasing the damage both armies do to surrounding units. Han and Horner also have heavier air units, which can mop up after Alarak's ascendants have laid down their Psionic Orbs and Mind Blasts.

Zerg Commanders

Kerrigan is an ally that synergizes very well with Alarak. Kerrigan's raptors and upgraded torrasques can bypass Alarak's supplicants to get into melee range easily, allowing them to reach the enemy much more easily, while hydralisks fire from behind them and ascendants from behind them, which can help minimize how much the two armies conflict with each other. Kerrigan's Omega Worms are also of great value to Alarak, as the worms can both greatly assist Alarak's meager mobility as well as function as very tanky, high-DPS turrets if Alarak chooses to Overcharge them. Alaraks' Havocs can bolster the range of Hydralisks to give them a very long attack range, but given that Hydralisks will usually be travelling inside of Omega Worms and thus leave any following Havocs behind, it can be rather cumbersome for Alarak to repeatedly micro his Havocs and trying to have them travel alongside the Hydralisks; as such, if Kerrigan is travelling very heavily with Omega Worms, it may be wise to place those Havocs in Alarak's army instead of having them continuously be left behind by the Hydralisks.

Zagara is a moderately effective teammate for Alarak. She provides a very large army for Alarak's Empower Me ability, and her swarmlings provide expendable melee troops to enter battle with Alarak. Supplicants shielded by aberrations are surprisingly effective tanks due to their defensive buffs. Alarak can use Destruction Wave to knock enemies into the range of Zagara's mostly short-ranged army. Ascendants can easily eliminate late-game attack waves, which Zagara can have considerable some difficulty with, especially on harder mutations. Mass Frenzy is of very limited value to an Ascendant build, as such a build has very low auto-attack damage, but it does benefit a Slayer or a Robotics build much more heavily, and can bolster their otherwise lower damage output.

Abathur posesses modest synergy with Alarak. Alarak can knock enemies into Toxic Nests with his Destruction Wave, but if he's not careful he can instead knock enemies away from the Toxic Nests, which can reduce Abathur's biomass supply early on in the game. Thus, Alarak should pay attention to where he throws his enemies if he wants to be more beneficial to an Abathur ally. When paired, it is best for Alarak to focus on a ground army (which is his only viable option anyways as he lacks a Stargate) while Abathur gets an aerial army, to minimize the two armies constantly colliding with each other. In addition to mend, Swarm Queens can empower Alarak while also using rapid transfusion to sustain his forces. Because of Alarak's damage output, it should be easy to kill large numbers of enemies while leaving Abathur to collect more biomass so brutalisks and leviathans draw fire away from Alarak, keeping him and his supplicants alive longer. In a pinch, Alarak and expensive army units can be abducted to safety. Further empowerment is possible with large groups of locusts, which could either come from a large group of enemies that have been killed, or they could come from Swarm Hosts if Abathur chooses not to go with an aerial army for that game.

Stukov provides mostly basic synergy with Alarak, as their most useful synergy is mostly Infested bolstering Alarak's Empower Me and doesn't go very far beyond this. That said, Stukov's infested infantry does provide plenty of fuel for Empower Me in addition to screening very well for Ascendants while they are in their weaker stages, as well as functioning as cleanup duty to take out leftover structures and weaker enemies while Alarak moves on to clear another area of enemies. In addition, Structure Overcharge can be used on Stukov's forward structures, but it is important to note that unfortunately, Infested Bunkers will not attack enemies with the Structure Overcharge weapon if they are uprooted; they must be rooted to attack with the Structure Overcharge weapon. They will still benefit from Structure Overcharge's shield in both rooted and uprooted form, however. Structure Overcharge can be combined with Infest Structure to allow for a very stalwart, if temporary, defense; while this shouldn't be relied on as a long-term solution, it can work very well as a short-term stopgap for an enemy attack. Stukov's Infested Diamondbacks can bring down air units for Vanguards to attack, which may seem like a good idea if you're up against an air composition, but in practice, it can be quite risky as this leaves Alarak completely dependant on Stukov's Diamondbacks in this case; if you're against an air composition, you're really better off building Ascendants or Slayers instead and allowing Stukov to focus his efforts elsewhere instead of babysitting you.

Dehaka and Alarak have some power together, but mostly aren’t the most powerful of combinations. Both rely on powerful hero units that are designed to take the brunt of a lot of damage, which can work early game as Dehaka is still working on levelling up his hero unit. Dehaka's primal pack leaders can provide global presence that Alarak otherwise lacks, which can be helpful if his Death Fleet is unavailable. Alarak can use Structure Overcharge on Primal Wurms to give them additional power and durability, and the Primal Wurms can Deep Tunnel towards enemies to avoid wasting the Structure Overcharge; unfortunately, Structure Overcharge does not work on Greater Primal Wurms.

Development

Alarak was chosen as the Co-op commander after Abathur, as, in the words of Blizzard, "the community wanted Alarak, and they wanted him now." The choice was also driven by player feedback that they wanted a non-zerg hero unit. It was decided that Alarak would be a good choice to reflect this, per his over-the-top personality and devastating power. John de Lancie was brought back into the studio to do new voice lines.

As Alarak was designed, it was intended that his sinister nature and the brutality of the Tal'darim shine through. The supplicant and Alarak's sacrifice ability reflect this.[4]

In early screenshots of Alarak in Co-op Missions, he was shown alongside Tal'darim skinned zealots. These zealots are absent in the release version.[5] Data in the map editor exists for Alarak's zealots, including a "Frenzied Overload" ability that increased their attack speed for a short time and caused them to regenerate shields when attacking.[6]